| Historical notes: | Aboriginal land
Most archaeological evidence relates to Indigenous occupation in the area from about 3000 - 2000 years ago. People living between the south of Botany Bay and Nowra were of the Dharawal language group. The northern most clan of the Dharawal speakers located near Kurnell, including those around the Port Hacking River, were the Gweagal. (Tuck 2008)
The indigenous people living in this area enjoyed many food resources and the mild climate of the area. Many midden sites provide evidence of the use of sea foods as well as reptiles and mammals from the bushland. Fish hooks were made from turban shells and fishing lines and nets from bark and native grasses. Timber provided bark for huts, canoes, coolamons, and lomandra leaves were woven together to make bags. (Tuck 2008)
In early 1770 Dharawal people of the southern coastal area between Nowra and Kurnell observed a large "white bird" (oral tradition of the local people) or floating island. This was Captain Cook's ship, the Endeavour, as it passed along the coast towards the headlands of Botany Bay (Kamay). The Endeavour lay anchor opposite the location of a small bark hut 'village' on the southern shores of present day Kurnell, a few kilometres north of present-day Port Hacking. It is understood that Cook's bold arrival and landing was a severe breach of Indigenous etiquette (Aunty Beryl Timbery cited in Andersen and Hamilton 2006). The location of the Endeavour's landfall and Cook's claim of the east coast of the continent for Britain is now commonly known as Captain Cook's Landing Place and has been included on the National Heritage List within the ‘Kurnell Peninsular’ listing.
Colonisation of Sutherland Shire
The land where Lyons House stand forms part of the historic property owned by Thomas Holt known as the Holt-Sutherland Estate. (Lyons House, Sutherland Shire LEP 2006, updated 2012)
In 1815 Governor Macquarie had made a grant of 700 acres of land to James Birnie at Kurnell, just north of Port Hacking. In 1821 a grant of 1000 acres was made nearby at Quibray Bay to John Connell. The first Crown Land sales took place in the Caringbah-Miranda area in 1856-88. At this time John Connell's grandson, John Connell Laycock, bought large tracts of land in the area including the present day site of Fernleigh in South Caringbah (J.S.Parsons Structural Consultants, 2012, 3). John Connell Laycock was a Member of the NSW Parliament where he was friendly with Thomas Holt. Laycock escorted Thomas Holt around his shire properties and Holt liked what he saw. (Envirospace, 2012, 13-14). In 1861 Thomas Holt purchased some 4,600 acres of land between the George's River and Port Hacking. In the following years he consolidated his holdings, more than doubling this original acreage. In September 1881 some 12,200 acres were leased to the Holt-Sutherland Estate Land Company, which dominated the development of the area for many years.
A Richardson & Wrench land sale map in 1901 offering to subdivide part of the Holt Sutherland Estate shows the site of 5 acres now containing Lyons House as 'not for sale' and owned by a Mr Simpson. (Lyons House, Sutherland Shire LEP 2006, updated 2012)
The earliest aerial photographs of the site, taken in 1930, show a building there. Aerial photographs of 1961 evidence the site as bushland. By 1970, aerial photographs show the construction of the current building known as Lyons House. (Lyons House, Sutherland Shire LEP 2006, updated 2012)
Architect Robin Boyd
Australian architect, author and critic Robin Boyd (1919-71), was one of the most influential Australian architects of the twentieth century. In 1969 Boyd was awarded the Gold Medal by the R.A.I.A. He was a Life Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects and an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He gave the prestigious Boyer Lecture in 1967 and in the same year was granted an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of New England. (RAIA SHR nomination for Lyons House, 1999)
An impressive architect in his own right, Robin Boyd is possibly more famous for his writings both as an architectural historian and as a cultural commentator (for example, The Australian Ugliness). He authored or co-authored twelve books and also wrote prolifically for journals, newspapers and magazines.
At the time the Lyons House was conceived and built, Boyd was heavily influenced by Japanese design. In 1962, Robin Boyd had published a biography of Kenzo Tange, a work which discusses Japanese architecture generally as well as the work of Tange himself. In 1968 Boyd published New Directions in Japanese Architecture. (Burdon, NT listing, 2013)
He died in October 1971, aged 52.
Client
In 1967 the orthopedic surgeon Dr William Lyons, was seeking an architect to design a home for the block of land he had recently bought in Port Hacking. Following an unsuccessful interview with Harry Seidler, Dr Lyons wrote to Robin Boyd in Melbourne, expressing his admiration for his writings and asking if he could recommend an architect in Sydney. Boyd responded by saying that he would be happy to take on the commission since he would be passing through Sydney regularly on his way to and from Montreal where he was designing the Australian Pavilion for World Expo. (RAIA 1999, RNE Interim, 1999, Dr Lyons informal interview with Heritage Division, March 2014)
In addition Boyd engaged Bill Smith of McConnell Smith & Johnson to administer the building contract on a day-to-day level. (RAIA 1999)
Robin Boyd and Dr Lyons worked on the design for the Lyons House in a collaborative manner (RAIA 1999), both in person and by correspondence (which Dr Lyons has carefully retained). Dr Lyons remarked, 'You give an architect a problem, not an answer.' (Burdon, 2013).
Geoffrey Serle later commented:, 'These were very congenial clients, with artistic and intellectual interests in keeping with Boyd's, as were a large proportion of his customers who had singled him out on the basis of his radical reputation.' (Serle, 1995, p. 251) (Burdon, NT listing, 2013)
Before engaging the architect, Dr. Lyons spent a year thinking about how he actually lived. He produced a short brief that focused on elements such as a pool to be integrated into the house design, maximisation of views and separation of living areas. (Burdon, NT listing, 2013) The family kept six cars at that time and ease of parking was another consideration in the design. Dr Lyons' first wife was musical and provision was made for this with original plans showing a grand piano in a music room and a rise in the floor level between the family room and the dining room, which enabled a 'stage effect' (Dr Lyons' words) for small performances. (Burdon, NT listing, 2013)
Design of Lyons House
The style of Lyons House is described as Late Twentieth Century Organic style with a strong influence of the Post-War Melbourne Regional style (Apperly et al, 1989, pp236-39, pp218-21) of which Boyd was a key-practitioner in the post-World War II period. The NSW Institute of Architects' nomination for the house in 1999 described it as, a 'rational structuralist' design approach. (RAIA,1999).
The Lyons House is an excellent example of Robin Boyd's innovative approach to design and structure.
The suburb was well developed at the time of construction in 1968 and views of the bay were obstructed by other housing. When Robin Boyd visited the site for the first time, he asked to stand on the roof of Dr. Lyons' car, took in the superb views and said 'We'll have to go up.' (Serle, 1995, p. 310; Heritage Division interview with Lyons, 2014).
Boyd also recognised that excavating into solid sandstone for a pool would be expensive so he proposed that the pool be built above ground and the house built in wings around it to maximise views and allow for cars to be parked beneath cantilevered wings. The emphasis was not on how the house appeared from the outside but on the views out from within. (Heritage Division interview with Lyons, 2014)
Dr Lyons noted Boyd did his drawings quickly, based on these initial ideas, within a few weeks. Dr Lyons tells a story about his musical wife wanting to have a place for her Queen Anne dressing table; when Boyd’s best compromise was to propose building it a special box for it projecting out from the bedroom, she gave in and Boyd was appreciative of what he called the “armistice”. (Heritage Division interview with Dr Lyons, 2014)
Given the nature of the brief, the site and the architect, the structural solution was always going to be a dominant part of the design. The diagonal timber struts used to support the cantilevered upper floor are an important part of the design, as are the projecting rafters. Such details are consistent with Boyd's theory of structural expression: 'Architecture is good building and building is good structure. Therefore it seems axiomatic to me that the main elements of the structure should be as apparent in a work of architecture as the words, sentences and paragraphs in a work of writing. Understanding the building is essential to a proper enjoyment of it' (Boyd & Strizic, 1970, p. 83 quoted in Burdon, NT listing, 2013).
Boyd chose the materials and finishes including the use of clinker bricks internally and externally (Heritage Division interview with Lyons, 2014).
The fabric and finishes provide an important means by which Boyd's design intentions are brought to fruition. The dark clinker bricks of the ground floor provide a solid visual grounding for the overhanging Oregon timber-finished first floor walls (stained grey to be in harmony with surrounding gum trees). These were materials which Boyd believed to be ‘rather 'back to the forest' - a natural look which suits Australia.' (Hayes and Hersey, 1970, p.232 quoted in Burdon, NT listing, 2013)
Despite the apparently 'basic' nature of the rough-sawn exposed timber construction throughout, the detailing is superb and testament to the building workers’ skill. The builder Bob Ellis had worked with Alan Jack & Cottier and had helped build Jack House in Wahroonga.
The extensive use of timber exudes a warmth to the building that Boyd was keen to create: 'I continue to shun artificial, decorative warmth, while finding pleasure in the sight and touch of almost any material that is not trying to look like another one.' (Boyd & Strizic, 1970, p. 21 quoted in Burdon, NT listing, 2013)
The influence of Japanese architecture is also apparent, particularly in the interior with its sliding doors with frosted glass, the almost tatami-mat appearance of the carpet and in the exterior deep eaves.
Boyd's design is also based upon rigid planning. A nine foot grid forms the basis for the proportions used in this home and is strictly enforced, ensuring a visual consistency throughout its many aspects and vistas.
Dr Lyons followed up Boyd recommendations of Marion Hall Best for advice on the interiors and Bruce Mackenzie for the landscape design. Dr Lyons also sought out Leslie Walford for advice on lighting design.
Hall Best was arguably the leading interior designer in Australia at the time. She has been described as 'a woman who thinks architecturally and has a conscious regard for the value and importance of space' (Hayes and Hersey, 1970, p.133). She said: 'I have a great respect for the architect, for the spatial values of the house. I feel responsible to carry through the ideas that have their beginning in a line drawn on a plan. I never want to lose the bones of an idea by overwhelming it with decoration.' In Lyons House, hall Best’s enduring design contribution is the use of simple match-stick blinds which allow for light to come in and for residents to see out, but not for people to see in. The blinds are unobtrusive in rooms where there are so many windows that using curtains would have been all-dominating. Such blinds were used by Hall Best in the courtyard of her own Sydney home. (Burdon, NT listing, 2013)
Leslie Walford was another leading interior designer of the day, who also wrote a column for the Sydney Morning Herald.
Similarly Bruce Mackenzie was arguably Australia’s leading Modern Movement landscape architect of the late 20th century. It is interesting that Mackenzie specified some exotic species for the landscape design as well as natives. Mackenzie is best known for his later design work which focused exclusively on Australian native plantings.
The Lyons House has been documented and critically acclaimed in several books and journals as an example of Robin Boyd's strong design philosophy and response to site conditions. (RAIA 1999, RNE Interim, 1999)
Although he designed many residences in Victoria, Lyons House is the only significant work by Robin Boyd to survive intact in NSW (RAIA 1999). Boyd's other known design in NSW, the Black Dolphin Hotel commissioned by David Yencken in Merimbula on the South Coast, has been severely impacted (Heritage Division HOD entry on Baronda).
In 2014, Lyons House continues to be occupied by the original client, Dr Lyons, and his family. |
